2018 Turkish Cadets, Youth and Seniors Championships, organized by Turkish Chess Federation in the beautiful holiday resort Antalya January 20-26, have become historical events for Turkish chess.

The Championships are hosting over 2.810 players and more than 7000 people in total (players, parents, arbiters, trainers and officials) from all 81 provinces of Turkey making this event yet another record breaker: the largest chess event in Turkey and even one of the biggest in the world.

Turkish Cadet and Youth Championships have a special format, which contains separate tournaments for all age groups from U7 to U18, adding up to 24 different tournaments in total at the same time.

2810 players (2134 players between the ages of 7-12, 592 players between the ages of 13-18 and 84 senior players) from all 81 provinces of Turkey competed for 9 rounds and at the end of this challenging 6 day marathon, 293 players have achieved the right to join youth national team pool.


The pictures speak themselves for the scale of the organization


The dance show (The Land of Legends) before the opening ceremony was watched by all participants with close attention.


Technical Meeting


The opening moves were made by President of TCF Gulkiz Tulay and Members of Board


The joy of chess!


Scenes from Youth Championships


Turkish Seniors Championships


The championships were closely followed by Turkish media


The volunteers called “Angels” helped young players in finding their seats and parents


Throughout the event there were also informative seminars, talks and conferences organized by TCF


The champions getting their prizes after the 9 rounds marathon

  



In her closing speech TCF President Mrs. Tulay specified that the number of participants in Youth and Veteran Championships increases each year, making this festival a candidate for the biggest sports event in Turkey. “Our investments in young talents and infrastructure have made Turkish chess stronger. We have grown thanks to the projects in this area and that is the secret to our successes. Especially after 2012 we have started to reap the fruits of our investments and strategically right moves realized together with our main sponsor’s Is Bank. The numbers of licensed players, our organizational successes in international arena, the historical achievements of our players and national teams and that Turkey has come to be reputed as a chess country show that a bright future awaits Turkish chess. Our young masters will surely become grandmasters in future and will write Turkey’s name in golden letters in world chess history," Tulay said.

After the Youth Championships, 293 players have earned the right to be in the pool of players for the national team, meaning that they’ll be entitled to join the camps and trainings organized by TCF, aimed at the development of young talents.